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It would be quite surprising for the average westerner
when he or she is told that the scientific achievements that the
European countries have been credited with since the past few decades
were commonly practiced in India centuries before! The countries in the
Asian continent, particularly India and China, were well advanced in
various scientific disciplines when most of Europe was lost in the dark
ages. In fact historians are coming out with proof to show that
scientific credits were given to most western scientists simply because
the ancient Indian texts could not be either understood by the west, or
effectively popularized by those who handled them in India.
Analysis It would seem surprising that India, which was repeatedly
attacked and colonized by foreigners maintained her rich cultural
traditions intact for thousands of years. All the scientific knowledge
that India possessed were part and parcel of this culture, and hence
they too remained intact with their respective custodians. Perhaps it
is the immense bonding between culture, religion and scientific spirit
of the Hindus that has helped them to keep the treasures of their
scientific knowledge intact.
Ancient Indian Mathematics
The range of mathematical discoveries made by the ancient Indians
affects most of the basic knowledge that we have in our lives. The
influence of the Indian scientific knowledge had affected many other
countries as well. The best example would be the misnamed 'Arabic'
numerals, which is in fact is a contribution of Indian scientists. The
very basic principles of mathematics had originated and then been
perfected in India. The Arabic scholars often referred to the now
famous ‘Arabic numerals’ as "Hindsaa", which means "from India
(Hindustan)"
In the Vedic age, India was ahead of the rest in mathematics and
astronomy. Thus, the geometry of the Shulba Sutras (The Rules of the
Cord), geometrical appendices to the manuals of ritual (Shrauta Sutras)
include the oldest known formulation of the theorem named after
Pythagoras, developed in the context of Vedic altar-building. The first
decimal system and the oldest names of "astronomical" numbers such as
quadrillions and quintillions. Arabs still call the decimal system
rakmu 'l-Hind, from Hind, "India. [Pandit, 1993, p.20]
“The decimal cyphers, the honor of which, next to letters the most
important of human discoveries, has, with the common consent of
historical authorities, been ascribed to Hindus” [Schlegel, 1977, p.
123]
"Mathematics is the science to which Indians have contributed the
most. Our decimal system, place notation, numbers 1 through 9, and the
ubiquitous 0, are all major Indian contributions to world science.
Without them, our modern world of computer sciences, earth-launched
satellites, microchips, and artificial intelligence would all have been
impossible" [Wolpert, 1992, p 194]
Archaeologists also found a “ruler” made of shell lines drawn 6.7
millimeters apart with a high degree of accuracy. Two of the lines are
distinguished by circles and are separated by 33.5 millimeters, or 1.32
inches. This distance is the so-called Indus inch [Teresi, p.59, 2002]
All these quotes show that the role of the ancient Indian mathematician was very great and profound.
Ancient Indian astronomy Perhaps the most important contribution to
science by the ancient Indian mathematicians was the concept of time.
Ancient Indian science, like the western concepts of the Big Bang
Theory and the Pulsating Universe Theory, believed that time does not
have an origin or end. Everything happens in cycles and at the end of
each cycle, there are important and very perceptible changes that
happen to the world. Ancient Indians had very precisely derived the age
of the universe, which is a source of awe for the modern scientists who
could not have done so without the help of advanced machineries and
astronomical equipments.
"The Hindus with their grandiose Kalpas and their ideas of the
divine power which is beyond all human category (male or female). Not
so alien to the imagery of modern science that it could not have been
put to acceptable use." [Kak, 2004]
"Temporal notions in Europe were overturned by an India rooted in
eternity. The Bible had been the yardstick for measuring time, but the
infinitely vast time cycles of India suggested that the world was much
older than anything the Bible spoke of. It seems as if the Indian mind
was better prepared for the chronological mutations of Darwinian
evolution and astrophysics." [Sorman,2001]
Ancient Indian Zoology, Physics, Chemistry and theories on life The
Indian belief on zoology, and in general the origin of life, has also
been accepted by the modern sciences.
“The theory of animal life and particularly of man was correctly
understood by the ancient thinkers. The Brihat Vishnu Purana states
that "the aquatic life precedes the monkey life" and that "the monkey
life is the precursor of the human life." The same theory was explained
in an interesting way by the dashavatara (ten incarnations). But
evolution, as everything else, was the manifestation of the supreme
spirit (Atman) as is testified by Chandogya Upanishad” [Kulkarni, 1974]
Ancient Indian seers had propounded the existence of atoms and also
believed that the world was created from a chaotic mass that later
differentiated into elements and matter that we perceive with our
senses. The fact that the most subtle part of matter, called ether by
modern scientists, had been identified by the ancient seers speaks of
their advanced thought, mental perception and physical sensitivity to
natural happenings around them.
Uddalaka Aruni, preserved in Chandogya Upanishad says "matter was at
first a chaotic mass, like the juices of various trees indiscriminately
blended together in honey. In order to develop names-and-forms, to
discriminate things from one another, or to set them in order, the
universal spirit came not in its universal form but as the living,
principle, and entered into Fire, Water and Earth. After separating
their component but qualitatively distinct parts (dhatus), it made
numerous new combinations of them
"The cause of creative motion is believed to be adrsta, unseen moral
force which guides the destiny of souls according to their karma and
requires them to be provided with properly equipped bodies and an
appropriate objective world for the experience of pleasure and pain. It
is due to the operation of this metempirical force that atoms start
moving to get together in order that they may be integrated into
countless varieties of things."
The law of gravitation discovered by Brahmagupta anticipated Newton
by declaring "all things fall to the earth by law of nature; for it is
the nature of the earth to attract and keep things." [Iyengar, 1997,
pp. 153-154 ; Chattopadhyay, 1987, pp.297-299]
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